Woody Allen: A Retrospective

2015 is a landmark year for Woody Allen: the quintessential New Yorker turns 80 on 1 December, and today the release of Irrational Man marks his 50th film as a director, 50 years since his debut as a screenwriter with around 75 credits under his belt.

From cult slapstick films and romantic comedies to introspective character studies and crime thrillers, Allen's filmmaking career encompasses enduring classics such as Annie Hall, Manhattan, Stardust Memories, Broadway Danny Rose and Hannah and Her Sisters, and more recently Midnight in Paris and Blue Jasmine have been notable successes.

Allen's dexterity of dialogue, penchant for quirky set-ups that embroil memorable characters in neurotic love affairs or existentialist murder mysteries - and not to mention his stubborn love of jazz, corduroy, typography and all things retro - have proven a powerful influence on the current generation of contemporary New York directors, writer and comedians from Noah Baumbach, Lena Dunham and Louis C.K. to rising stars like Alex Ross Perry and Desiree Akhavan.

It's the perfect time for a retrospective, so Thames & Hudson are bringing out a beautiful illustrated hardback book that follows the format of previous volumes about Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese. In this timely retrospective, Tom Shone reviews Woody Allen's entire career, providing incisive commentary on his films and shedding light on this uniquely self-deprecating filmmaker, with the help of comments contributed by Allen himself. Superbly illustrated with more than 250 key images (including movie stills, archive publicity material and on-set photography), this is a fitting tribute to one of the masters of modern cinema.

WIN A COPY OF THE BOOK

Thanks to our friends at Thames & Hudson we have a few copies of this brilliant book to give away. For a chance to win, simply tweet @CurzonCinemas using #WoodyAllen or email us with "Woody Allen" in the subject line an image or clip from your favourite Woody Allen film. This competition closes on Friday 18 September.